Six of Wands tarot card meaning: the rider and the crowd

Six of Wands (6 of Wands) at a glance

Suit and element: Wands, fire. Astrology: Jupiter in Leo, the second decan of the sign in the Golden Dawn scheme, a generous planet in the sign of the performer.

Six of Wands in a career question: credit where it is due

At work the Six is a plain good sign: credit, a raise, a win with a client or leadership of a team that follows willingly. It favors anyone who needs visibility. If you have done good work quietly, the card says it is time to let it be seen.

Reversed at work, effort goes unnoticed or someone else collects the praise. On money, upright points to a deserved raise or bonus, and reversed to a payoff that is delayed or smaller than the work merited.

Six of Wands upright meaning: what victory looks like

A rider sits tall on a white horse, a laurel wreath on his head and another on the staff he holds. Five more staves are carried by the people on foot around him. The crowd is the point: this victory is witnessed, and it matters that others see it.

It usually follows a struggle, which is why it sits after the Five. The card carries a quieter promise too. Confidence earned this way is steadier than confidence borrowed from reassurance, and it deserves to be enjoyed. The Jupiter-in-Leo pairing fits: success that is meant to be shown.

Symbols on the Six of Wands

Count the staves in the crowd and you get five, the same number as the card before. One reading follows from that: the people who fought in the Five now march on one side, and the Six is what their energy does once it points one way.

Six of Wands tarot love meaning: pride in each other

In love, the Six speaks of pride in each other and a bond people can see. A couple may feel at their best together, or a single person may feel confident enough to be noticed. The risk is performing a relationship for others instead of living it.

Reversed, it shows a partner who needs applause, a mismatch between how a couple looks and how it feels, or low confidence that keeps you from showing up at all.

Six of Wands as feelings: admiration, and what it wants back

Upright, the Six of Wands is admiration. The person thinks well of you, respects what you have done and may want to be seen with you. They are proud of you, and they would like you to be proud of them in return. They see you as a winner, which flatters and also sets a bar.

Reversed, the admiration comes with a catch: jealousy of your success, worry about being outshone, or a sense that they are not recognized in return. A partner who keeps score of credit is the reversed Six in person.

If you want the feeling to last past the applause, show interest in what they do when no one is watching. The Six runs on being seen, so see them back.

Six of Wands reversed: ego, doubt and the empty parade

Upside down, the parade falters. You may have worked hard and not been thanked, or been praised and feel like a fraud. The usual themes are ego, a fall from grace, missing recognition and self-doubt.

It can also caution against letting a win go to your head. Someone who needs applause to feel real is vulnerable to a loss in a way the secure rider is not. If the reversed card follows a failure, define success on your own terms, not only by the crowd's response.

Is the Six of Wands a yes or no?

Upright, it is a yes, especially for questions about winning, passing or being recognized. It favors results you have prepared for. If you have done nothing yet, read it as yes, if you do the work.

Reversed, it softens to maybe. The win is possible but may be late, shared or less satisfying than hoped.

Six of Wands as an outcome and as advice: a win and what comes after

As an outcome, the card is one of the best you can see at the end of a spread: the contest ends well. As advice, it asks you to accept credit gracefully and to name the people who helped.

A win also raises the stakes. The rider has to ride on, and the Seven of Wands that follows is the cost of holding a position once you have one.

Six of Wands astrology: Jupiter in Leo and the number six

The Golden Dawn called the Six the Lord of Victory and gave it the middle ten degrees of Leo, under Jupiter. Jupiter widens whatever it touches, and Leo loves an audience, so the decan is success that grows by being shown. That is why the Six needs its crowd.

Six restores balance after the break of five. Across the minor arcana the sixes are recovery: safe passage in the Six of Swords, kindness in the Six of Cups, generosity in the Six of Pentacles. In the fire suit the recovery is public, a win that tells everyone the struggle is over.

Six of Wands combinations

Beside the Six, a second card tells you what the win is made of.

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